


Brave

by gremlins-came-and-got-me (Scared_Beings_in_the_Dark)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Deputy Stiles, Kate Argent Warning, M/M, Mentioned therapy, Stalker Kate, full shift derek, married sterek, mentioned PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 14:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12389742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scared_Beings_in_the_Dark/pseuds/gremlins-came-and-got-me
Summary: Stiles gets the call at 3:45 p.m. and doesn’t speed home.Not at all.





	Brave

**Author's Note:**

> Heed the tags as they are comprehensive of what's in this story. Still, if you think I've forgotten to tag for something, please let me know.

* * *

 

Stiles gets the call at 3:45 p.m. and doesn’t speed home.

Not at all. He always takes that corner on two wheels. And he pulls in the driveway at 3:55 p.m. even though he lives a half hour away from the station.

He pauses, half out of his patrol car, staring at the wide-open front door.

Stiles’ heart misses a beat and then misses another when he sees the little side table Derek insists they put their keys on when they get home tipped over, one leg broken, the other three knocked crooked.

He jerks his service weapon free, thumb on the safety, tiptoeing up to his own front door. His heart keeps missing beats, pounding erratically.

Steady. Steady. Avoid the third step because it creaks even though Derek keeps trying to fix it. Steady. There. Inside.

Inside is even worse.

The whole house is messed up, turned upside down, damaged or broken things scattered everywhere.

But no Derek.

Stiles isn’t sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

On one hand, he’s not here which means he might have gotten out. On the other hand, he’s not here which means he might have been taken.

Stiles’ heart blips, another painful, irregular beat.

Downstairs is clear, as is the upstairs. All their belongings strewn about. Stiles’ clothes shredded and his laptop broken beyond repair.

Derek’s things are missing. His favorite sneakers and sweaters. His stack of books by the bedside. The lamp from his grandmother.

Everything gone.

Derek gone.

Stiles sits on the edge of the bed, blinking away a sudden onslaught of tears.

He wasn’t fast enough. He didn’t get here soon enough. Derek is gone and Stiles has no idea how to find him.

He can’t breathe. Without Derek, his air, everything is too big and too small all at once. He can feel his heart tap-tap-tapping against his ribs, trying to beat in a broken rhythm. _And he can’t breathe._

A sudden mournful howl breaks through his heaving, useless gasps, and Stiles snaps his head up to stare at the open window.

He cocks his head. A howl?

The window isn’t actually open, he discovers as he leans out into the cool afternoon air. It’s been broken out, like something, or someone, was thrown through it.

There’s no blood though. And there’s nothing out of place in the backyard.

Nothing except the giant pile of leaves Derek wouldn’t let Stiles burn because he wanted to use it as compost starter.

Stiles could have sworn it wasn’t that big yesterday.

And then the pile of leaves rustles at the same time the howl sounds again.

Stiles trips over his own feet in his haste to race down the stairs and through kitchen, slamming out onto the back porch.

The leaves quiver and shake before a large black wolf rises from the depth of the pile. He tosses his head, foliage spraying off, and he pads over to Stiles, nosing at his palm.

Times passes while Stiles stares down at Derek, fully shifted, and Derek licks at whatever part of Stiles he can reach.

“You scared me,” Stiles finally whispers, when it’s obvious Derek isn’t going to shift back to human any time soon. He rarely does when he’s been terrified into his full shift. “I thought you were gone, taken, stolen away.”

Derek licks his palm, an apology.

“No, no. I’m glad you’re oaky, but we’re going to have to file a report with my dad. Who was it? Did you see?”

Derek doesn’t answer. Being a wolf means he can’t talk, and often doesn’t want to, even after he has shifted back, which sometimes takes a day or two.

“Come on, let’s go to my dad’s. Our place is destroyed.” Stiles has to wonder though, who hates him enough to ruin his house and to frighten his mate so badly that he refuses to shift back?

The answer, in the form of Mrs. Henderson, their nosiest neighbor, comes when Stiles is trying to get Derek to jump into the back of his patrol car.

“I already called it in, Stiles. She won’t get away with it.”

“Who?” Stiles says, pausing with a hand fisted in Derek’s ruff. “The person who destroyed my home?”

“That Katherine Argent always sneaking around and hurting people.”

Kate’s back? And she went after Derek again. Stiles sighs, running a hand down Derek’s side. No wonder he won’t shift back. In fact, Stiles thinks he’ll be lucky if Derek shifts at all this week.

Kate Argent has been stalking Derek since he was in high school. It’s only recently that the local law enforcement, no thanks in small part to Stiles, has been able to have warrants for her arrest issued.

Of course, if Kate could stay in jail when she’s put there, Stiles’ life would be fantastic. Instead, he has to deal with a panicked husband who jumps at every shadow that lurks like a psychotic bitch. The therapist Derek sees twice a month is working on helping him control his PTSD.

“Thank you,” Stiles says to Mrs. Henderson.

“Where’s your husband?” Nosy neighbor.

Stiles sighs. “He’s safe for now. Again, thank you for your help, but you should probably head down to the station to give your statement.”

Mrs. Henderson eyes Derek worriedly. “Is that where you’re taking that beast?”

“Uh, yeah. Sort of? I have to talk to my dad, get someone down here to secure the scene, so I might have him with me?”

“Oh.” Mrs. Henderson walks away to go sit on her front porch. Stiles thinks she wanted to ride with him but Derek in his wolf-form might have scared her. He sighs and calls for backup. Then, he gives Derek a good pat and shuts him in the backseat before heading to the station, on the phone with his dad to let him know about Kate.

Dad and the deputies take care of everything. Stiles gets sent home (well, to his dad’s home anyway) with the instructions to get Derek shifted back ASAP.

Which surprisingly takes less time than Stiles was expecting.

All he did was turn on the shower, let the water warm, and go pick out a towel and some clothes his dad never wears anyway. When he gets back to the bathroom, Human-Derek is crouched in the spray, water running over his head while he stares blankly at the wall.

“Hey, hey,” Stiles coos softly, setting the pile of clothing on the edge of the sink so it won’t get wet when he strips and crawls into the shower with Derek.

Derek startles, clamping a hand onto Stiles’ arm and pulling him forward and turning him so that they are chest to back.

“It’s okay,” Stiles soothes, patting at the hand curled around his waist. They’ve been married almost five years now, Derek’s hand more than fits—it feels right.

Stiles laces their fingers together and just holds on.

“It was Kate,” Derek murmurs, unnecessarily. “She—she came back for me. She wanted to kill you, so I agreed to go with her.”

“And then you shifted?”

Stiles feels Derek’s nod against his back. “She was so busy destroying your things that she didn’t notice.”

The destruction, the things she broke or stole, they’re just that. Things. Stiles knows he and Derek can replace them. He grips Derek’s hand a little tighter.

“I’m glad you got away from her,” he says. He twists so that they are facing each other. Derek’s eyes are blue and he’s running his tongue over his fangs, but the hand Stiles still holds is completely human. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but we need to speak to my dad. They’re already looking for Kate, but the information you can provide may help them.”

“I know,” Derek admits. “That’s why I shifted back. So I could talk to your dad sooner.” He drops his intense stare to somewhere around Stiles’ left nipple. “I don’t want her to come back and hurt you.”

“I love you too,” Stiles says. “Up, up. Let’s go.” Derek moves willingly. Dresses in the clothes Stiles picked out and somehow doesn’t look as ridiculous as he could. Instead, Stiles thinks he looks soft, huggable.

They hold hands the entire way to the Sheriff’s Station, Derek rubbing his thumb over Stiles’, taking a comfort he no doubt needs.

Stiles is surprised to see quite a few patrol cars out in front of the building. He’d have thought they’d still be scouring the town for signs of Kate.

When they head inside, he sees why they’re all here.

Kate is handcuffed to the bench in front of the Sheriff’s office. As soon as she sees him, she starts spitting curses and accusations.

Stiles can feel the shift coming in the way Derek presses close to his back, nose pressed cold against Stiles’ neck.

“Shut up, Argent,” one of the deputies spits, and she turns her vitriol on her.

“Enough!” the Sheriff bellows, and even Kate shrinks back, subdued. “Graeme, Parrish, get her out of my sight.” He waits until the deputies get Kate to her feet and hustled back toward the cells before he turns to Stiles and Derek.

“Sons, I know this is difficult, but I really need a statement. Something that I can put into charges so we can keep her locked up.”

“Of course,” Stiles says, squeezing Derek’s hand.

“Of course,” Derek echoes, brave.

Never in this moment has Stiles’ loved his husband more. He tugs Derek into a quick kiss. “We’re okay,” he tells him, and Derek nods against his lips.

“We are,” he agrees. “Let’s get this over with.”

~ Fin ~

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Epilogue: Kate gets released on bail but is killed in an “accident” when her vehicle drives off a cliff—no, the Sheriff’s Department nor Stiles and Derek had anything to do with it. People always wondered about the tires and oddly shaped holes in the body of her vehicle. Almost like someone shot out her tires with arrows…
> 
> Also posted at [my Tumblr](http://1989dreamer.tumblr.com/post/166493232165/brave-teen-wolf-tv-ficlet).


End file.
